Australian Worldwide Exploration Ltd., on behalf of its wholly owned subsidiary AWE New Zealand Pty Ltd., has spudded the Pateke-1 well. The well is drilling ahead at a measured depth of 205 m.

Pateke-1 is an exploration well 4 km north of the Amokura oil field offshore New Zealand in the Taranaki basin. Pateke-1 is targeting oil in the Kapuni F sand reservoir, which contains oil at the adjacent Amokura and Tui fields. Pateke-1 is the third well in AWE's current exploration program.

Following completion of operations at Pateke, the PEP 38460 joint venture plans to drill the Kiwi-1 well, 4 km southwest of the Amokura oil field. The well is expected to take 16 days to reach its planned total depth of 3,927 m.

Participants in PEP 38460 are operator New Zealand Overseas Petroleum Ltd. 45%, AWE New Zealand Pty Ltd. 20%, Mitsui E&P New Zealand Ltd. 12.5%, Stewart Petroleum Co. Ltd. 12.5%, and WM Petroleum Ltd. 10%

7/20/04